Russell Westbrook is coming off the bench in Los Angeles and if it continues to go well, it could make trading him easier.
Westbrook’s acceptance of a sixth-man role opens up new doors, as we recently detailed in a piece that examined potential trade destinations for the former MVP.
The Sixers haven’t seriously been linked to Westbrook but there’s a trade that makes sense for both Philadelphia and Los Angeles if Daryl Morey’s club wants to shake things up. Sending out Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle, and Furkan Korkmaz works salary-wise to bring in Westbrook and if Morey can make the move while receiving an unprotected future first, he may be wise to pull the trigger.
Trading for Westbrook now means the team can test to see if the Westbrook-James Harden 2.0 pairing is the right fit (even with Westbrook getting his minutes off the bench), and the team could trade him again at the deadline if not.
Philadelphia is 4-4 on the season, winning their last three after a horrid start, so the team may have a little more patience than it initially looked like they would have.
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- Gregg Popovich praised former first-round pick Romeo Langford, who recently stepped up during a spot start. “He might be our best on-ball defender,” Popovich told reporters. “He has a knack for it. He enjoys it. It was good to find that out.” Some believed Langford would not make the Spurs roster this season, though, in limited action, he’s proven that he belongs.
- ICYMI: The Nets hired Ime Udoka to be their next head coach. The Celtics granted the team permission to speak with the coach, who was suspended by the team for having an inappropriate relationship with a staffer. Brooklyn relieved Steve Nash of his duties on Tuesday.
- Charles Barkley believes Kyrie Irving, who has shared anti-semitic content on his social media and defended his actions when asked about it, should be suspended. “First of all, Adam is Jewish — you can’t take my $40 million and insult my religion,” Barkley explained. “You gonna insult me, you have the right, but I have the right to say, ‘You can’t take my $40 million and insult my religion.’ I think the NBA, they made a mistake,” Barkley said. “We’ve suspended people and fined people who have made homophobic slurs. And that was the right thing to do. If you insult the black community, you should be suspended or fined heavily.”
